Crimson Tomb
by Mist.Filled.Eyes
Summary: He was supposed to be talking with the Raikage, but instead he becomes a ransom ticket to a bunch of die-hard ex-shinobi. The Kazekage has to use every skill he's got to try and escape a life or death situation where his only ally is worse then the enemy.
1. Change Of Plans

**A/N: **Alright, ladies and gents, I'm very sick so this might not be some of my very best work, but I wanted to do a sister story to _A Little Distance. _What I wanted to do, because _In Plain Sight _is such a Sasuke-oriented story, or it will moving in that direction shortly. So this is kinda to keep the balance between them relatively even. This is taking place during the month of negotiations that Gaara was supposed to be doing with the Raikage.

Without further ado,

* * *

Gaara scowled as he stared at the calender. For 2 months now Sasuke had been in the Water country - technically he wasn't supposed to know the details of the mission but he knew the location and knew that this was an undercover mission - doing god knows what. 2 months there and Gaara could have no hand in bringing him home. He couldn't send out reinforcements, he couldn't even send out a scout, personal request from the Hokage in order to maintain the integrity of the mission.

So he sat behind his desk, and tried very hard not to curse the gods.

However, on the bright side, Sasuke came home today. Not so bright, he wouldn't be spending much time. He had a list of missions that only Sasuke could handle. Probably another month before they spoke, really spoke. He had to admit 2 months and 2 weeks in, that he was definitely missing the Uchiha. As pathetic as it sounded he genuinely missed that sarcasticly charming voice belonging only to the raven. Music sometimes couldn't compare to the sound, it also didn't cause the same thrill to run up his spine.

3 months now they'd been apart and it finally seemed like they'd manage to get together. Gaara had gone home early and cooked dinner, intending to call the Uchiha so they could eat, talk, and remember what the other actually looked like.

Instead his cellphone had rang and his sister had called him back to the office. He went back to the office and sat back at the desk he was beginning to hate just a little.

"The negotiations with Lightning-" Temari's hair had been straightened and she was dressed nicely, she and Shika were probably going out to dinner when _her_ cellphone had gone off. Damnit the Sabaku name was beginning to be such a damn curse.

"Aren't for another week." He leaned back in the chair, why did he care about something he had plenty of time to prep himself for. He had a week. A week to a Kage could be negotiations with 3 countries prep time.

"-Weren't for another week. The Raikage is impaitent to see you and bumped them up. It's short notice, it's rude and you can totally decline. But it means making the ANBU protection detail he sent to escort you wait for a week."

"It also means being closed off and unwelcoming to them when they try to ask me nicely. I have to go." Gaara groaned in annoyance. The Raikage had recently taking quite an interest in him. More then likely due to the fact that he somehow had Sasuke Uchiha - the rogue who fought the Raikage and won - under his thumb. So he'd been particularily insistant on getting Gaara into his country.

Gaara on the other hand, was unnerved by this idea. In Suna he was much safer and Suna was safer with him there. But he couldn't refuse. refusal meant that the Raikage might get insulted and might play a harder game. How annoying politics could be was constantly going to amaze the red headed man.

"Yea, you have to go." Temari sighed as well and sat on his desk languidly. She seemed just about as miserable about this developement as he did. They both groaned but nodded.

"Can you-?"

"Yes, I can handle the country for a month. Good luck. Will you-?"

"Of course I will write and confirm I'm safe. But don't expect a letter a day, I'll write for perhaps once a week." Gaara smiled softly. He and Temari knew this routine so well. Kankuro was still in Konoha and would be remaining there until The Kazekage and Naruto worked out Shika staying here perminantly. So in the meantime he and Temari figured out how to work with each other. Two fiery personalities? Their arguements are famous for being explosive.

"Take a protection squad." Not a request.

"I have the one from Lightning, they'll keep me safe." Gaara frowned.

"Gaara. Take a protection squad."

What started calm ended something like this.

"If you so much as exit the office without a goddamn ANBU I will personally kill you! Don't you dare shrug them off! Don't even think about ditching them! Gaara if I get a letter saying that you lost the protection squad, I'll write the Raikage and ask him to lock you up and throw away the key until I get there."

It also ended smacking him upside the head. "Sasuke isn't here so he can't give you that I-know-you'll-do-it-if-I-ask-really-nicely look but I am here and I can give you that," this is where she smacked the red head, "I'm-your-sister-and-I-will-kill-you beat down. Got it?"

"Yea, got it." Gaara laughed quietly. "Go find me a good squadron to take, I'll summon the Lightning ANBU." Gaara laughed happily. His sister's methods were unorthadox, but they certainly worked. The Kazekage was well aware that his sister actually would have him locked away until she could get there. So while she was gone, he strolled into the apartment connecting to his office and changed for travel and battle. He glanced at his older battle-wear and laughed softly. "Did I really wear this stuff?" He donned his traveling cloak for a moment before shrugging it off. Both their countries were hot places, the cloak would only over-heat and hinder him. No point in wearing it.

Temari walked back in along with both squadron's just as Gaara closed the clasp on his bag.

"Damn you're good. I didn't even summon them yet."

"I know. I found them all scattered on the rooftops of the surrounding buildings. Evidently, their instructions were that their mission starts on arrival."

"Hmm. Interesting. "

They left that night. 12 ANBU shinobi and one Kage set off for the Lightning Country. Every they stopped and made camp Gaara prepped himself for negotiations, running through everything from the countries assets to it's disadvantages. Doing this for the Lightning country as well would give him a leg up on the Raikage - presuming he hadn't done so himself. But he highly doubted it, the Raikage was more of a strong arm kind of man then Gaara. The red head prided himself on being more of a mental fighter.

"Lord Kazekage, are you going to get any rest at all?" Kooisi smiled at him from her bedroll. He had been pouring over the files he brought for hours and the young ANBU was beginning to wonder if the Lord really was a vampire. She heard rumors about his sleeping patterns or lack thereof from the Suna protection squad that came with them.

"Yes I will. Go to sleep Kooisi, my team can watch me for tonight. I'm not going anywhere." Gaara tried to offer a comfortingly charming smile. Acording to his family, if he tried he could be quite comforting. He aqquitted it all to the title of Kage. Kages were supposed to be the biggest and baddest so everyone felt safe when they said that it was. He just seemed to more adept at it then most.

"I know, but Lord Kazekage, if I may, do you really not sleep?" The woman batted her pretty blue eyes at him and made an attempt to make it look like this wasn't about to become her next juicy piece of gossip. Most of the young ANBU took every chance they got too figure out fun facts about everyone. Amongst themselves it was usually done in a bonding truth or dare game. If they where given the chance, they'd try to figure out the 5th Kazekage too.

Unfortunatly, Gaara also prided himself on being a damn good liar.

"I do. But luckily I got in a damn good rest before the mission. You're an ANBU, tell me how many days I can run for on 13 hours sleep."

"13 hours? For any ANBU that's good enough for 3 days. Well technically 2 days and 3 fifths of another but your a Kage so I'm bumping it upwards." Kooisi smiled and Gaara immediately could tell she was hiding something from him. Her smile didn't reach her eyes and there was noticable traces of guilt lining her lips.

"Thanks for the ego boost," he jested quietly, "but luckily we will be in the Lightning country by the time I need to sleep again. On the other hand, you need sleep. Don't make me knock you out."

Kooisi nodded and put her head back down, watching as the Lord Kazekage bent back over his files and began studying them again. In the beginning betraying hims had been easy. He had no face to her then, he had no personality and no one to care about. Now she had a face to the name Gaara Sabaku. He had a sister and brother to leave behind and he had a personality. Hell, she couldn't know, he might even have a lover.

In the back of her mind Kooisi wonderd if he really loved whoever he might be with.


	2. Traitor & Murderer

**A/N: **God, I forgot it again. I'm sorry Masashi Kishimoto!!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto. I am in no ways associated with it. I just like writing stories about it. This is for entertainment purposes only and I make no profit from it.

Without further ado,

* * *

"Kazekage-dono, we'll be crossing into Lightning in just over 20 minutes." A shinobi whose name Gaara had yet to learn called out from the rear. The red head nodded and tightened the strap of his gourd. He smiled slightly at the memory of his sister trying to move it so she could clean. She'd taken one look then very loudly exclaimed that it grew. She had just about a billion protests to this prospect, 'it's heavy enough! It didn't need to get bigger!!'

Gaara smiled to himself. 20 minutes before he could get this over with. "Thank you very much. I was wondering." Gaara paused for a moment on a tree branch and readjusted his gourd. Something about it was off, the very sands in it seemed to be restless. He took the gourd off and ran his fingertips down the side of the cork. The sands inside shifted in response to his chakra and he frowned.

"What is the matter?" he directed the question more to himself then the gourd. The two squadrons following him stopped on the surrounding branches. He pulsed his chakra and let it sink into the gourd. His frown got quite a bit deeper. Someone else's chakra was surrounding his gourd. Luck was not on his side however, because he didn't recognize the chakra. Had it been Sasuke's he'd know and it would make sense seeing as Sasuke often used chakra to lift the damn thing whenever he needed to move it.

But it wasn't and no one else should have touched it.

"Lord Kazekage?" One of the 6 Suna shinobi escorting him called out from a lower branch. "Is something the matter? I've never seen you struggle with the gourd before."

The red head ignored the ninja and continued his small investigation into the chakra. It felt light, warm. Feminine. So a woman's chakra. He risked a small glance at the Lightning squadron. One of them must have have touched the gourd because his men never would. But 3 out of 6 were women. Shit.

Gaara shrugged, probably a damn dare. He rose to his feet and put the gourd back.

Kooisi's heart almost stopped when he mentioned the gourd. She looked forwards and guessed that there was maybe a mile between them and the ambush. If the Kazekage could use the sand when they were attacked then the chances of this entire mission succeeding was cut down by half. Apparently that red head could change the landscape of a very large expanse of land when he was 14, after so many years Kooisi was horrified by the notion of what he could do now.

She ran a hand through her hair to push the sweat from her eyes. Nerves were a bugger to a shinobi and hers were ruining her. She took one last glance at the two squadrons around her. The 5 men on her squad were going to die today. The 6 Suna ninja as well. The only people who were walking away from this ambush were her and the Kazekage.

A pity, she kind of liked that Suna Captain.

Kooisi resisted the urge to shrug, not that it mattered. Soon she'd have enough money to get away - even if she feel horrible about this - and leave the shinobi world behind her. Get married, have kids and not have to listen to anyone anymore. No one, especially not a Kage. She jumped up to a higher branch, the oncoming ambush was coming in from below and would hit the Lightning squad first. Then the Kazekage, then the Suna Squad.

Kooisi Kamji steeled her reserve and followed the plan diligently. Once they reached the site of the ambush she went to sound the alarm, but Gaara beat her to it.

Gaara skidded to a halt on a branch and yelled for everyone to stop. "Do you feel that?" He whispered. "At least 50 or 60 shinobi coming this way." He glanced around and when the ANBU nodded he called for defensive positions. Offense would get them killed. So they had to defend. Gaara crossed his arms over his chest and prepped himself for the battle.

"Chances of survival?" An ANBU gave him a hopeful glance and for a split second Gaara hated his job. Everyone trusted you so much everytime there was an issue, they looked to you for all the answers and prayed you actually had them.

Gaara was torn for a second between comforting the man and saying the truth. 13 people vs 60approx. No, their chances were low. Even as well trained as they were. With the gods on their side 3 people including Gaara might survive. Gaara was doubtless to survive, he could get the hell out the situation if it got too hot. Meaning he could abandon his men, but he couldn't do that to them.

But he would get out. Nobody with sense just murders a Kage. There was infinite possibilities of things to gain with a Kage as your prisoner. He looked back at the man. There wasn't that much of a chance of a ANBU getting out though, all the men standing around him would probably be dead in a few minutes.

"Do you want the truth?"

"Yes sir."

"They aren't very good. More then likely we're all going to die." Gaara sighed and met the man's eye. They both nodded and Gaara watched the ANBU around him assume fighting stances and mentally prepare themselves for death, should they face it. As much as it killed him to even think that.

Gaara went to pop the cork off his gourd and was horrified to find that it couldn't. Chakra, it had been chakra glued shut, that's why the sand had been freaking out. Gaara dropped to one knee and began hurriedly focusing his own energy to attempt and override the other. "To whomever has their chakra on my gourd, now would be a really good time to take it off."

Everybody looked momentarily horrified at Gaara's very quiet growl.

"You have to listen to me, please, if I can't use the sand then your chances of survival drop by a lot-" He never got to finish that argument because the enemy arrived.

Two members of the lightning squadron were overwhelmed in seconds, katanas appearing very suddenly from different areas of their bodies. No one spared them a second glance, they didn't have time. Gaara dropped the gourd to the ground, it was useless to him so he wouldn't carry the weight. He dropped his stance to a familiar one once taught to him by Rock Lee.

He glanced around and realized that he was surrounded but no one was attacking him, just penning him in. Meanwhile his shinobi were being killed. The Lightning squad was toast except for Kooisi and one other woman. He looked up and barely dodged a falling body. He made to go to the right and help the Lightning squad members and his little circle of herders tightened. So he jumped straight up and swung up onto a branch.

"Who's alive?" He flipped a shinobi off his back and onto another attacker, then rounded and threw a kunai into the neck of a shinobi attacking the captain of the Suna squad.

"Me!"

"Me!"

"4 members of the Suna squad My Lord! 2 members of Lightning." The Captain yelled and Gaara had to snarl. 7 people already murdered. He dropped off one branch and onto another and threw a punch into the spinal cord of an nin, when the ninja turned around Gaara plunged a kunai through his chest. He hissed when a senbon found it's seat in his calf, then tore it out and threw it back. Hitting a substitution jutsu instead.

He heard a cry of pain and saw an arm fall off a branch. He looked up and recognized the second-to-last member of Lightning. He took no time to mourn her as her head joined her arm, he could take time after this was over to mourn them all.

He grabbed onto the out-stretched hand of one of his shinobi and put his back to hers. "How about now Sir, chances of survival?"

"5 people against--" He halted as a groaned from somewhere to his left signalled a death. "Sorry. 4 people against what thirty...eight. Divvy that up for me."

"38 by 4, that's 9 each and two remaining."

"Wait, that's not too bad." He smiled grimly and let loose a combo of attacks to kill another 3 people. "Make that 4 people against 35."

They all took a breath and dodged the next attack coming. Gaara forced himself to be optimistic, he had to be. They all were relying on their humor to keep their heads together, it was crucial for their survival. A pessimist always dies in battle, an optimist looks to the next battle coming.

Gaara heard an exclamation and turned to fire off a small fire jutsu. He didn't know many fire jutsus and he couldn't do them very well, but Sasuke taught him to do Grand Fireball jutsu and he could do that half-decently. Decently enough to roast a few enemies. The ANBU who had been under attack threw him a grateful look then continued her array of attacks.

He looked around again and found that it was him Kooisi and that shinobi left alive. When he heard the scream and the crunch of bones breaking, he knew it was just him and Kooisi.

But his gourd was still out of commission. So Kooisi had to have put the chakra seal on it and cost these people their lives. Gaara backed up on the branch he stood on by a single step then stood his ground. Kooisi had betrayed both him and all the dead surrounding him, he couldn't afford to look weak in front of a woman willing to do that - no matter how horrified he might feel about it. Last time he got kidnapped he got killed. And there was no Elder Chiyo to bring him back this time.

"Bitch." He growled the word at Kooisi. "You've betrayed your country." He launched a kunai and let it scrape across her forehead protector and country symbol. "You are a traitor and a murderer in the eyes of the Kages." Technically he wasn't supposed to speak for all the Kages but hell, it sounded good and he knew the Raikage would back him in the choice as soon as he got the ransom demand for Gaara.

"There's better money in it."

Gaara looked around and searched for an escape. Finding one he dove off the branch and towards the ground, he landed and started running. The borders of Lightning would no doubt be patrolled lightly but if the gods were with him then a patrol would find him before these guys did.

"Catch him!" He heard Kooisi scream. He glanced up and counted 28 men above him, the remainder of the original 60 who came. He recalled the times he, Sasuke and Kankuro had gone running together and recalled Kankuro telling him that if he wanted to go faster to let his mind escape him and focus on the rhythm of his feet and let the beat pick up.

He darted around trees and jumped over the few fallen ones and cursed when he was forced to pause and kill an annoyingly quick enemy. He skidded to a stop when confronted with 15 shinobi of back-up. He made to turn around and keep running but faced the 28 others. He let out another curse and when to jump straight up, finding that blocked.

"I won't come willingly." He glared up at Kooisi and a few men on the branches. "And I won't allow myself to be ransomed. I will escape." He tried very hard to sound like this was an absolute certainty, not a desperate prayer.

"Good luck with that." Any traces of guilt Gaara had seen last night were gone, she was in neck-deep and not bothering to pull herself out.

He felt two hands on his shoulders and another two on his wrists. Gaara could feel the chakra seeping into his pores and knew he wouldn't be conscious for long, these were clearly medic-nins.

"How long do you figure you have before the Raikage learns of this, I was supposed to arrive today. He'll send men after me-"

"-He can't afford to let Suna know he lost the Kazekage to a bunch of shinobi that you yourself told him to deal with, so he'll say you arrived on time and pay us to keep it quiet. You'll be the only loose end for everyone. How long do you figure he'll take to reach the decision that you should die?" Kooisi shrugged.

It was bullshit and they both knew it, but it had done it's job; planted the seeds of doubt. Gaara felt himself dropping forwards on his knees, using his hands to prop himself up, then watched the forest around him and the rogue shinobi blur into a blackness he couldn't resist.


	3. Cornered

When Gaara came to the fear clenching in his gut screamed for him to open his eyes, to fight, to run, to do _anything _but lie wherever he was. The shinobi in him warned him that he could lose precious information if he was awake early then anticipated. So he kept his breathing level and his heart rate calm. He wouldn't dare try focusing chakra because if nothing else that would give him away.

"Are you a complete moron! You never should have done that!" A voice was yelling. Loudly. He never understood what it was about yelling that people seemed to enjoy, he'd learned early in life that you were scarier if you were quieter. Why? Because it made the other idiot listen. A sharp intake of breath indicated another yelling fit. "You could have killed him, if he died then you would have been joining him fast. Got it."

Gaara felt his heart jump in response to someone's hand on his face. They turned his face up to the light and Gaara tried very hard not to react to the cold touch. "Get out." The voice that had been yelling was quiet now, so several pairs of feet retreated quickly. "Gaara, you're good but not good enough, open your eyes."

Jesus that voice cracked like a whip. Gaara reluctantly opened his eyes to met dark green/brown ones. Her hair fell off her shoulders gracefully and tickled his face. It matched her eyes, it was so dark but so fine. "Who are you?" He went for threatening but his voice refused to work and he felt as though he was choking for a second or two before this woman ran her fingertips over his throat.

"Better? Gaara, can you breath?" The woman's voice was concerned and Gaara nodded. For the moment he ignored that this woman was using his first name, not his title.

"What was that?" He murmured. Usually he knew his body's responses very well but he had no idea about this one.

"That was what's left of those two idiots chakra fucking around with your system. 60% of the time chakra doesn't meld properly and it can have adverse effects on both the giver and the receiver. The latter is you. Their chakra is in your system and doesn't know where to go, so it's trying every escape."

"My throat." He nodded. The reasoning followed logic so he closed his eyes again and took in the facts, filing them away for further research. "I take it my system rejected them?"

"Oh yea. Any hope you have of being followed here is doubtful. You were apparated here in a hurry, you started convulsing and damn near died. You actually killed one of the medics here when your chakra lashed out." The woman seemed almost happy about this idea and Gaara moved to sit up, glaring when he realized his shirt was gone.

"May I ask-"

"I had to cut you open. Their chakra was trying to rip you apart to escape, and yours wouldn't let me closer then a foot. I couldn't do a precision extraction, so I did a general one and just uhh," she drew a finger down the front of her torso. Gaara's eyes widened and he threw the blanket that lay on top of him off.

Nausea was his first reaction. Running the length of his torso was a slice clearly made by a katana. "You cut me open." Gaara muttered the phrase more to himself then this apparent medic-nin."

"Luckily, I could put Humpty back together again." She smiled ruefully at him and Gaara frowned. Who the hell is Humpty? Yet another thing to be further researched when he was free.

"I am okay, correct?"

"Correct. I am a damn good medic. Not as good as the Slug Princess was or that apprentice of hers but damn good. You should be glad I'm here. I saved your life." She ran her fingers over the scar and nodded. "Yea, you're a Kage, one call to Konoha and Sakura-san herself could get rid of this scar for you. I'd keep it though, good reminder. I find scars," She stood and gathered a bunch of fabric off the floor, "remind us that we're not immortal."

She turned on her heels and walked out. Gaara waited until he heard the door close then lept to his feet and murmured a small fire jutsu for a little bit of light. It was practically a lighter's flame and he cursed himself for not being more dedicated to practicing the fire arts. It was enough though. He took measurements of his prison and found it to be 9 feet by 6 feet. He pressed his hands to the wall and scowled.

Cold and wet. He was underground. That narrowed his chances of being found. He pressed harder and decided it was rock. So a cave? He sniffed the air and nodded. Definitely cave, he could smell the richness of the minerals in the soil behind the stone. He turned back to the place he'd woken up on and his eyes widened.

Someone had cut a damn stalagmite in half. The circle it left was big enough for him to lay on and he immediately looked up. There were several other circles, though not quite as big, on the roof. So this room had at one point been a small area of the much larger cavern. He glanced at the circle he'd been on and frowned. That one had been rather large, so this had to be quite the damn cave. His chances of being found, kept getting lower.

He stared at the door then nodded and put the light out. He bounced in place for a second then swung a chakra enhanced kick into the door. It cracked and he smiled. "Gotcha." He did the same routine again, only this time with a little more power in his kick. He heard voices yelling and running footsteps so he kicked harder and faster. "Please, please. Come on! Break!"

The door flew open and Gaara held his tongue when he was slammed into the wall by what looked like two more walls. Gaara refrained from reacting when he realized that the 'walls' were just giants. He'd seen big guys - Choji was by no means small - but these two were huge.

Behind them walked in two people. The way everyone looked at them told him that these two were running this operation. Kooisi he recognized. The man beside her he didn't. He had silver in his eyes, though the base color seemed almost orange. His hair was a light green and hung in his face. The kind of hairstyle that Sasuke would have called 'a mop'. He just called it a mess.

"Nice try. We wondered whether or not you'd risk it." The way the man said it clearly implied that there was something to risk but the red head did not want to know what there was. His men were dead, there wasn't really anything he could be risking.

But everyone was clearly waiting for him to take the bait. So he glared pointedly at the two men holding him up like a rag doll. Both men looked back at there leader and upon his nod, dropped Gaara like a stone. He balanced himself elegantly and made a show of dusting himself off and pushing his hair out of his face. He knew Temari would've balked at antagonizing hostage takers but he would not make it seem as though he were under their thumb.

"What do I call you? I know her; Bitch. How about you." He ignored the annoyance that flitted across their features when he ignored the barb entirely. "Bastard?" He offered the name with a good-natured smile.

"We'll go with Tadashi and you shouldn't have kicked the door."

"He's not going to bite. Gaara isn't interested in being mind-fucked willingly." The woman from earlier walked in and pushed him back onto the makeshift seat. "Keiko Atsuko is the name, and before Tadashi growls at me. I heard you got slammed into the wall. If they injured anything then I'll tell you. Lift your right arm." Keiko began giving him quiet instructions which Gaara willingly obeyed.

Even if she was with the enemy, she didn't seem to obey the rules they set and anyway you're always supposed to listen to the doctors orders. "What's the mind-fuck?"

"There was a shinobi sitting behind the door. The door would have shattered and killed him. He's a hostage as much as you are." Keiko murmured softly, Gaara schooled his features into indifference and Keiko smiled. "That's right Gaara. Show no weakness. How utterly Kage of you." She smiled bitterly. Keiko finished her assessment and nodded to herself. She tightened the ratty red scarf around her throat and pushed the sleeves of the black coat she wore up to her elbows.

"So are we going to tell him why he's here?" She stood in front of him deliberately and for a spilt second he let anguish show. He could have killed a innocent trying to escape. When the dark haired medic murmured that, mortification had flooded his system. No wonder they did that. If he had killed that shinobi he wouldn't have dared tried kicking out the door again.

He would've have waited and sprung when some idiot opened the door. No matter what they threw at him, he wouldn't just sit here and wait for them.

"I know why I'm here. Kooisi already played this hand with me. The Raikage, you're going to use me for the money _he _can pay to cover up the fact that he lost me in the first place." Gaara stood up and moved to lean against the wall nearest the door. Tadashi walked closer and smiled at him.

"Are you okay with this?" He raised one eyebrow and leaned on the wall beside Gaara. Keiko smiled and thought to herself, _this was he got me, insults and attacks then praise and compliments. _As much as it pissed her off, Keiko was here half willingly half not. She couldn't work for any shinobi village again, not after what she'd done. And these guys paid well. This would be the biggest pay-off they would have so far. She could betray these guys, take the money and run. She wasn't a fanatic to a cause, these guys were. But luckily, she was a murderer surrounded by murderers who taught her to fight against them. She knew their weak spots.

"Okay with what?" Gaara quirked an eyebrow. Tadashi pushed off the wall and stood in front of the Kazekage, he leaned forward and smirked when Gaara pressed himself back against the wall.

"Being paid for." The way he said it, Keiko immediately associated it with the whores who hid in brothels. Clearly Gaara felt the same. Because he threw a punch into Tadashi's jaw and smoothly dodged the two thugs who tried grabbing him. He threw a kick into Kooisi's stomach. The Kazekage slipped out the door and started running down the hall. He froze for a second at a fork in the road and turned left.

"Gaara!" He could hear the taunting voices from behind him and kept running. "You won't escape!" He rounded a corner, grasping the corner to slow his momentum and slid on the dirt. He froze in place at a dead end then turned and kept going in the next direction. Best case scenario; he could end this now. Worst case; he could get himself lost in here and they'd have to hunt him down.

He had warned them that he wouldn't make this easy.

He spotted a room ahead, a room with sunlight spilling in and hurried towards it. He snatched a cloak off the hook nearest the door and threw it over his bare shoulders. He pulled the hood up and kept his head down. He didn't know what was in the sunny room so he wouldn't just walk in. He'd sneak.

Gaara kept his reaction restrained at the sight of the room. It seemed to be a kind of lounge. There was easily 100 men in the room. Mercenaries, he knew it. This was the muscle of the operation. He went over to the window and heard his pursuers rush into the room. "The Kazekage has escaped. He's loose. Find him." One of the two 'walls' deep voice boomed over the room and he heard the room empty.

Well, almost empty. He heard the sound of boots on the floor, then loud music startng to play.

"Did I make it that obvious?" He asked the only other occupant of the room. He pushed the hood down and turned to face the man.

"Oh yea. To me at least. That's my cloak." The man smiled and Gaara hexed. He seemed to be jinxed, nothing was going right. "Nice try though, you fooled everyone else that you were just another mercenary." The man shut the door to the lounge and Gaara stared. The only light left in the room were the rays of sun through windows small enough to make columns of light. "If you're scared, lemme know. I'll just yell for the guards, you go back to your cell and that slim chance you have of escaping goes away."

Gaara went back through his memory and created for himself a mental rendering of the room. Where the couches, tables and foot stools were. Anything that could hinder or help him. "So I fight you. I win and I'm free."

"You lose and I get to choose your fate."

Gaara's guard jumped up when he heard the assassin's voice right behind him. "Either I kill you. Or I ransom you off myself. To anyone buying." The red head growled. That could put him anywhere. Either right back where he started or with the highest bidder. It wasn't a fair bet, this man probably knew all about him. All Gaara knew was that he was fast and he was quiet. Uneven odds, a lot to lose. This sounded an awful lot like a bet Sasuke would jump on. He loved it when the odds were against him.

He weighed his options for a second before deciding that he had nothing lose. Hostage here or hostage there. Here at least he had a chance of besting this guy.

"I accept the terms. You'll secure my escape or just not sell me out?"

"I'll get you out of here. By the way, so you know who you're cursing the name is Han."

"Gaara. Will you allow me the use of my gourd, if it's near?" He paused when Han put a knife to his throat and lifted his chin. He'd appeared in the light patch Gaara was standing in and whipped the blade out in seconds. Gaara sent up a prayer of thanks. He trained with Rock Lee. Speed did not scare him.

"Don't negotiate with me. I'll let you use anything you want." Han disappeared back into the darkness. "But your gourd isn't here. Tadashi's got it locked up somewhere on premises. Bad luck, friend." Han smirked and his yellow eyes twinkled merrily. Gaara immediately likened this man to a hyena. A laughing hyena, they both just assumed they were superior and mocked the other guy.

He was clearly skilled in taijutsu, and he knew Gaara was more of a ninjutsu kind of guy. He thought he had the didn't count on Sasuke Uchiha and Rock Lee's training sessions. 9 times out of 10 they'd be completely taijutsu based.

Ready...set....go. They both jumped out of the light and Gaara focused his chakra to his ears. He could hear the air cutting to his left, so he raised both arms, one to block the fake-out attack, the other to catch the real attack. Han spun around him at the last second and attacked the right arm. Gaara gripped down and sent a punch towards his knee to try and hinder him.

Han pushed off his free leg and kicked Gaara's arm upwards. Once they were free they both fled to opposite areas. Han took cover near the couch and Gaara was up on the ceiling. They both kept their breathing quiet and hidden, now that the initial clash was over, they both knew the other wasn't someone to underestimate. Now they'd be more cautious.

Gaara sprung, throwing his voice from his new location on the coffee table to the other side of the room. "You're good."

Han threw his to be right behind him again and laughed. "You're more then I expected."

Gaara felt a hand close on his throat just in time to throw his hands up and smack it away using the pressure point on the thumb. His other hand came up and threw Gaara down into the table. Gaara felt the wood slam into his back then splinter around him. Several pieces hit his back and he could feel the blood running down his skin. He put one hand on the wrist to pin Han's hand to his chest so he couldn't escape then flipped them both over and pulled Han into an arm bar.

Han hissed and murmured a jutsu before slamming a hand into Gaara's thigh. Immediately the Kazekage rolled away and landed himself in a patch of light. He cursed and dove out just as Han dove in. They both rose to their feet and Gaara assumed a defensive stance while Han took offense. The two threw combos at each other, both trying their hardest to be the fastest.

"Now!" Han hissed and Gaara felt pain shoot through his leg. He brought his arms up and blocked what would've been a rib-shattering kick, he felt his forearm crack though. "That jutsu will spread pain through you until you can't move." Han stood in the light of one window while Gaara stood in the other.

Gaara prepped himself for the next blow when it came and felt his forearm actually shatter. Both he and Han knew that all Han had to do was keep this kicks coming and eventually Gaara's arms would drop and he'd be beaten. The red head cursed, he could keep going but he would ultimately lose.

"Can I give up?" He asked quietly. It hurt his ego to ask but he had no alternate option. It was either give up here and let Han do whatever or have absolutely no ability to defend himself at the next place.

"Of course you can." Han was grinning. Gaara nodded to himself and lowered his arms. Han smirked and stopped the assault before pointing to the ground. Gaara nodded and knelt down. He held back the shiver when he felt the cold kunai running along his shoulders as Han walked behind him. "Close your eyes." Han's smirk turned into a triumphantly wolf-ish smile.

Gaara shut his eyes and felt the blade rest just on the hollow of his throat.

"I'll make it fast. Killing you is worth more then money." Han chuckled and pulled the blade away and Gaara waited.

"Han, back off." Keiko's voice. "Gaara keep your eyes closed, focus on staying conscious and ignoring the pain." Gaara remembered his opinion from earlier, that she sounded like a whip snapping. Now he knew why, he could hear the wind being sliced and the leather hitting the floor where her whip was moving.

"Do you care so much about him, they are similar I admit, you killed your-"

_CRACK! _

Gaara flinched as reality dawned. Han was too close. Her attack couldn't be aimed around Gaara and his eyes flew open as he remembered her words, _Focus on staying conscious and ignoring the pain._

The whip sliced through Han's arm and slammed into Gaara at the same he yelled.

"Wait!"


	4. The Start Of A Partnership

The Raikage was not a patient man by nature. He had none, in fact. He was a do it now, question it later guy. It was the cause of a lot of things in his life, including his appointment to Raikage. His country was prosperous and wealthy. He was entering into negotiations with the Land of Wind, another powerful country. As an added bonus to this little talk, the Kazekage had control of the Uchiha.

Gaara Sabaku, the youngest Kage in a century, somehow succeeded where he had failed. The Raikage may have lost to the Uchiha but the red head had won and now they could often be seen together. How he'd done it escaped him and he was was very interested in finding out. He'd bumped the negotiations up to try and throw the boy - because that's what he was in the eyes of a man like himself - off his game. Hopefully he could simply steamroll over this boy and these negotiations were going to be finished fast.

But let's stay on topic. The Raikage was pacing in his office. Furious. The Kazekage was supposed to have been here a week ago. He had no idea where he was. Which was bad. If the boy had been hurt then he had the advantage in this treaty because it would be the Raikage's fault.

"Sir?" His secretary leaned in and smiled pleadingly at him for calm. "I have a parcel from you. It has no sender so we scanned it thoroughly and it is clear. We just don't know what it is..." She raised one eyebrow and waited for him to approach and take the package from her. Once he did she waited for him to dismiss her. He said nothing and she took it as her usual invitation to stay and wait for him.

He nodded to himself and gave her a scroll from the package. She rolled it open and slammed a hand onto it upon his order. The apparition was that of a ANBU from the squadron escorting Gaara to Lightning. The secretary, Riako, struggled to remember the name of this particular ANBU. Kooegi? No, Kooisi. The apparition began speaking.

"Raikage, as you have no doubt read. We have the Kazekage as our hostage. He is mostly uninjured and will remain safe as long as you comply with our demands. We know you'll want to think about this so we'll give you a week to think. At the end of the week we will send proof of the Kazekage's life should you require it. In return for his safety and our silence we want..." The woman went on to list her demands and both people's eyebrows raced for their hairlines at the amount of money. Of course Lightning could pay, but that much?! It was disgraceful.

"Sir! You should not pay these thugs!"

"Riako, if they tell Suna that the Kazekage was kidnapped while I was supposed to be protecting him then there will be hostility between our countries and our shinobi. The Kage himself will already be furious. I cannot avoid that, but the country's rage can be dodged. All I have to do is quiet these people and get Gaara-dono back."

Riako, horrified as she was, understood the logic. Though it burned her pride at the idea of paying. She glared at the scroll. "What does the letter say?"

"The letter is from a doctor, a medic-nin, she says that she is Gaara's attending physician and that while he is under her care she will take pains to prevent any long-term damage. Short-term, she says, can be avoided by paying. She doesn't state her name though." The man scowled and Riako's glare deepened. How dare these disrespectful fools threaten her Raikage, or the Kazekage for that matter. It's so....Oh! She didn't even have words.

"We have to find him. If we find him then this can be entirely covered-up." She offered. The Raikage nodded and leaned against the desk behind him, signalling the young secretary to roll up the scroll and bring it over. She did as ordered and handed it over. He tucked it away in the wall of scrolls behind the desk and murmured to her to memorize the location for him.

Once again, she nodded and obeyed.

"Riako, go back to work, forget this happened. I will give you orders later." He ushered her out of the office and shut the door after she bowed. Riako snarled softly and sat down at her desk. Insulting, impudent thugs! No class. She rose and kicked the wall viciously. She had to protect her Kage. He could not have a weakness like these mercenaries.

She felt a plan brewing and sat back down. She would protect her Kage....

.

.

After the whip connected with his back things happened very quickly. Keiko finished off Han, then hurried to Gaara's side. She gripped his shoulders and held him up. "My whip has poison laced into it, you're going to start going numb in your legs, tell me when that happens." She murmured and maneuvered him to lie on his stomach.

The whip had gone through Han's arm and torn into Gaara's back. It ripped through the flesh there and had successfully clicked the metal tip against his spine. Both injuries had the possibility of damage he couldn't recover from. The damnable thing was that she couldn't even tell if there was damage. Her whips poison hid the only symptom. If Gaara couldn't feel his legs then normally she'd conclude that he had spinal damage. That option was unavailable to her right now.

"Do you have someone you love?" She asked "Family? Anything?"

"Both." He gasped when he felt her fingers probing the edge of his wound.

"Think of them, maybe it will help you ignore the pain." The she pushed apart the muscle and began focusing healing energy on his spine. Gaara held himself down, thrashing could injure him worse. Keiko hissed when she discovered the whip's tip had slammed directly into the bone and dented it. She focused her chakra and the healing orb around her hands darkened. Gaara bit down a yell when she pulled the dent out and fixed the spine. She pushed the layers of veins, muscle and skin towards each other and began stitching them back together.

Keiko smirked at the thought. She'd said it to Gaara but he didn't understand. Humpty Dumpty. Her brother had told her that story and she immediately put it straight to her job. A healer could put all sorts of people back together again. Thank god, because now another Kage needed her help.

This time, the difference was that she could and would help. Once she finished stitching his back she coaxed him into a sitting position on the couch and quickly put his forearm together. Han had shattered it, the damn fool. He should never have joined this little gang. He was in it for the kills not the money. Killing a Kazekage was too tempting to him and if she hadn't heard the bone in Gaara's arm break then the red head very well would have died.

"You're crazy." She murmured.

"No. Just determined. I have to get out of here." Gaara's senses were reeling, he couldn' think straight. His legs were numb, wasn't he supposed to do something if that happened? Oh right. He was supposed to tell Keiko. He opened his mouth and spoke. "Numb." Fatigue washed over him and Keiko nodded. She waited until he passed out, from prior knowledge he was a better patient when he couldn't back mouth her.

He'd been here a week and been conscious for about 2 days - not that he knew that. For all he was aware, he'd been here for 2 days. But Keiko had kept him unconscious for 5 days. For those peaceful 5 days, she had been able to bring his health back up to 100. Once he woke up, he made it much harder. Attempting an escape, fighting with the guards and with her. He'd hurt himself more in two days then then she could hurt herself in 3 months. Amazing, she thought it took effort to get that hurt, but he made it look easy.

She wondered if he knew that he was consciously unconscious. The terms were wrong, you couldn't be consciously unconscious, but Keiko called it that anyway. It was when you were still awake, but you didn't realize that fact. She checked his pulse and smiled. He was alive, she rejoiced, he wasn't dead and he wouldn't die. That in itself was a relief to her.

"Is he asleep?"

"You could say." She looked up into Tadashi's face then rose and slipped an arm underneath Gaara's shoulders. "Help me take him to my room. He clearly doesn't appreciate the little jail cells you lock him in."

"Clearly." Tadashi took the other side and picked up the slack. Together the two made their way slowly down the hall. Tadashi studied the man he was dragging, or more specifically studied the way his head hung between his shoulders. He looked depressed and broken, Tadashi smiled. It was one of his quirks. He loved breaking down the most powerful men around. Seeing Gaara - who had such pride, such a stubborn streak - looking so broken down. It was fun.

Tadashi stared at Keiko and spoke, "Do you see your brother in him, is that why you take such good care of him?" He smiled warmly. Keiko was one of the strongest minds he'd gone up against. She'd been near him for a year now and had yet to break down. She tossed him a contempt filled glance. Hate spread between them like a cloud.

"What is it about this Kage that fascinates you so? Do you want to use him or just drive him insane?" she snarled at him. Either he wanted the money that he could get from Gaara, or he'd felt that strange urge he got sometimes to mess with the head of another. Keiko knew that there was something unstable in Tadashi's mind, a split-personality almost that got distracted from any long term goals by the craving to murder someone mentally.

"Drive him insane. It would be extremely pleasurable to see this man break." They put Gaara down on the bed in Keiko's room and Tadashi swung his legs up to sit on the bed. When she raised one eyebrow and went to bark at him he held up a hand. "I know that he hates physical proximity to a stranger-"

"Or a kidnapper."

"-so if I want to freak him out, then being _close _is how I do it." Tadashi lifted Gaara and put the Kage's head on his lap and placed one hand on the man's throat.

"Tadashi that jutsu of yours, the fire, don't use it on him. He's physically weak right now so it could damage him." Tadashi nodded absently and smiled at her. Keiko sat on the end of the bed and stared at the situation, of course the green haired man looked completely at ease. He was a manipulator by nature and it was easy for him to stick his fingers in your weak spots. Gaara's apparently would be the physical side of things. Hers had been verbal.

"You, I would have used."

Gaara awoke once more to the sound of Keiko's yelling. Odd, he thought, my head feels like it's floating. He scowled at Keiko's most recent jab. "Is this how you work?! Draw me in with verbal banter, physical battles with him. " She had practically thrown the words out and Gaara suspected that there was not a single trace of remorse for her rash words written into her features. Keiko Atsuko just didn't seem to have it in her to feel bad about anything.

Up to and evidently including send a whip collinding with his spine.

"Didn't I say wait? I could have talked him down." He muttered bitterly as he opened his eyes. He felt a hand on his throat. Too big to be Keiko's hand, but he frowned when he realized that he could see both the young medic's hands. They were up in an attempt to placate him.

"By the way, you look cute together. Totally Christmas." She smirked at him morbidly as he put it together. He was red, the only green in the building that he'd seen was- "There you go. He's got it."

"Take you hand off me!" He yelled as he went to throw the hand away. He felt chakra, strong chakra, pulse through him and felt his nerves light on fire.

"Don't move." Tadashi's voice resembled an order and his hand pressed down, "otherwise Keiko-chan will have to cut you open to fix you up again." Gaara gave an imploring look at the medic, it seemed to scream help me at her. Keiko's hand found her scarf and she fiddled absently. The chakras in his system seemed to create a fire in his veins. Everything about this chakra made pain radiate through his blood.

"Tadashi. Chakras don't mix 60% of the time and I believe he's in pain. I told you not to do that." Keiko's eyes flashed with concern for him. Tadadhi pressed down a little harder and managed to wrangle a strangled gasp from the red head. Keiko looked away and Gaara felt a heated flash of shame.

Then it was over. Tadashi's fire-nerves stopped and Gaara hated the rush of relief that spread through him. He was a Kage damnit, a little pain was supposed to be nothing for him. He let a frown appear as he studied his place instead of focusing on the shame. He was lying on a bed now. Tadashi's hand on his sternum, so casually resting on his person, was flustering. But much more embarrassing, his head was resting on Tadashi's lap. Following that train of logic, Gaara deduced that Tadashi must have sat down before Gaara was placed down. Or Tadashi posed him.

Asshole.

"We need to talk Gaara. The Raikage is going to ask us for proof that you are alright and alive in a few days. And well we need to make sure that he believes us. Any ingenious ideas as to how to do that?"

"Drop me off at the border. I'll tell him myself." Gaara felt the fire begin to burn and prepped himself for the pain but nothing came. Tadashi stood up and Gaara sat up, immediately feeling the the urge to shower and clean away the man. He wanted nothing to do with Tadashi. The green haired man walked around the bed and gripped Gaara's chin to hold his head in place. He murmured just loud enough for Keiko to hear him.

"The next time I come in; you cooperate. Got it?" Keiko had to smirk as Tadashi made sure to be in Gaara's personal bubble. If the Kage was uncomfortable then he was agitated and he was making mistakes. Brilliant move, even if she would never say that to Tadashi's face. The red head glowered each time he was touched but he made no moves to stop it. It must have gotten through that he would not be able to fight his way to freedom. Tadashi shut the door behind him and Gaara immediately walked into the connecting bathroom. Keiko listened with a growing smile as the shower started running and Gaara stepped in. Pants and all. Evidently stripping took to much time.

"What an ass." He called to her. Keiko nodded and lay back on the bed. She could feel it happening already. Gaara felt that she hated it here and he was going to use that to try and form a bond. If he could get that bond then he had an ally. Someone he could escape with. Someone who knew the layout.

Another fucking brilliant plan. Why were all the men around her smart? Couldn't she get the stupid ones?

"Keiko, can I talk to you, honestly?"

Well shit.


	5. The Death Of Kooisi Kamji

**A/N: **I don't believe I've ever mentioned the color of Kooisi's hair. If I have, feel free to review and inform me. Wow, this was meant to be a quick chapter but it ended up being the longest running.

* * *

Keiko sent up a hex to the gods, why did those idiotic head-smacking _idiots_ feel the urge to put all the negative karma on her? Surely the other people in this building had done enough wrong to warrant a good karma-filled whooping? Then she frowned, that karma was probably how they ended up here kidnappers for hire.

How much good karma did she need to build up before the gods felt the urge to save her sorry ass?

"Feel free, it's not like I have anything better to do." She smiled at him and Gaara came into the bedroom using chakra to force the water out of his clothes and into his hands, the liquid fluidly moving into a sphere. Once he stood dry the ball was dropped into the sink. "What would you like to talk about?"

Gaara gave her a guilty look. The Kazekage had to admit he felt bad about dragging the medic into his problems but after last time he knew he couldn't very well run blind about until he bumped into yet another mercenary. It just wouldn't do for him to get himself killed in a foiled escape attempt. He sat down on the corner of the bed and watched Keiko retract into a corner herself. Neither of them wanted to have this discussion but neither could avoid it. Gaara needed an ally and Keiko needed to get out.

"What you want." Gaara broached the subject softly. If he came into this topic guns up and blazing then he expected the medic would bolt. "And what I _need._" He let the words hang a moment before meeting Keiko's unfailingly calm gaze. She stared for a moment before looking away and Gaara continued. "I need to get the hell out of here and you want the same. We have different reasons but the endgame is the same."

"So you want my help then?" She grumbled. Gaara nodded and sighed.

"I wouldn't ask but-"

"You've finally clicked that this place is big. Really big." Keiko fell back on that, providing a dignified cover for Gaara's request. He nodded and Keiko refused to acknowledge the grateful look in his eye. She'd spent the bulk of her life around the political world and the Kages. She knew exactly what emotions they hated showing and what emotions they allowed if tempered.

Emotions were not things that Kages enjoyed experiencing. Keiko understood the logic and reasoning behind it, she hated emotions as well. So she knew exactly how to react to everything Gaara did and said with creepy precision.

"And a lot like a labyrinth." He added for good measure. "I need a guide." He frowned. Keiko studied the Kazekage with a new-found interest. He'd been ready to tell her the truth, but when she provided the lie he played off that instinctively. She almost growled, another thing to be filed into the reasons why Gaara Sabaku is a brilliant man category.

"Why the hell should I help you, you realize that should this little plot fail I'll be killed in a very not-pleasant way." She glared at the bed angry at everything. Life for putting her and Gaara here, Han for hurting Gaara enough for her to have to fix him up, Tadashi for organizing this. She was just in general pissed off with life. But hey, isn't everyone? She brought her hand back to her scarf then hissed, that little tick of hers had to be discontinued.

"I know and you aren't obligated to help me. If you won't help me get out of here, then please at least tell me how to get to my gourd. Just that is enough for me."

Keiko knew it wasn't. Sure he'd be more protected and he could probably take out the people in the building like that, but he'd still be lost and he'd still be trapped. He could work better if he was armed but he needed to taken out of this building alive, and that idea in itself could be called to doubt. The Raikage was an unpredictable man and he could probably kill Gaara to protect his country. Any 'help' he was sending could be to help him along to the other side.

Ultimately it came down to this; Gaara needed the helping hand of someone from this side and she was the only available option.

That and she felt bad for him.

"Your gourd is in Kooisi's room. She wants it for a trophy." She hesitated, this wasn't a good idea on her part, "and you need me or you'll be trapped down here."

Gaara looked up from the bed covering. Suspicion glistened before he saw resignation in Keiko's eyes. She was going to do it! His spirits leaped momentarily before he started thinking. Kooisi's room, perfect. She wanted a trophy, that was fine, so did he. He wanted her head on a silver platter.

"Meaning?" He met her gaze and forced himself to keep a steady face. Keiko nodded and glanced to the side.

"I'll help."

.

.

Kooisi was sitting in her room feeling extremely pleased with herself. The Fifth Kazekage's gourd of sand was sitting in the corner looking rather rejected while the Kazekage himself sat in Keiko's room trapped and miserable. She reclined deeper into the chair she was sitting in. She ran her fingers through recently washed silver hair. She'd just finish cleaning the dirt out from the root - blood is _so_ hard to get out of hair as thick as hers.

She got to her feet and padded over to the gourd. She tried picking the thing up without chakra-strength and damn near threw her back out. She used a bit of chakra and dragged the thing over so she could sit and examine the damnable thing at close range. It looked plain enough, just a gourd full of sand. Sand that happened to be infused with what would surely equal like 60% of her chakra. For him it was probably like 10%.

Kages. She scoffed bitterly. She admitted that once she realized he was actually like likable she had felt a twinge of guilt for doing this to him. But once the carnage happened and everyone was dead and he showed he had a vicious side. All such guilt had been erased and she had felt nothing for the, what, 11 lives she'd paid.

The money they would be getting for Gaara would surely be worth those deaths. She clapped her hands together as if she was wiping the dust off and in doing so washed her hands of any kind of feelings for the red headed man. She ran her fingertips over the cork and slid it open slowly. The sand inside rushed out and circled the gourd as Kooisi flew back into the wall. She frowned when she realized the sand was just hovering, almost waiting.

_Strange, _she thought,_ maybe it knows that it's master is just down the hall. Can sand know something like that? _

She walked over cautiously and prodded one line of the sand. The grains parted around her fingers and slid to avoid her touch. She giggled softly, so it doesn't like being touched. So much like Gaara. She started to run her hands over and around the sand watching as it parted to suit her motions every time.

She walked over to her stereo and hit play. A pop song started playing and Kooisi began dancing through the sand, smiling when it bent and shifted with her. If you weren't really paying much attention then you'd probably assume that she was controlling the sand. How awesome.

She turned her back on the door and spun elegantly. Unbeknown to her, her music was drowning out the sounds of death. Gaara and Keiko had left Keiko's room; Gaara armed with a katana and Keiko her whip. They were making their way down the hall at a rapid rate to prevent anyone from raising the alarm.

When she stopped spinning Gaara stood framed in her doorway, the picture of fury and justice. She halted immediately and drew in a breath to scream loudly. Gaara rushed forwards and clamped his hand over her mouth. She gasped and went to bite his hand but Gaara tightened his grip on her jaw and hissed, "Don't you dare."

Kooisi closed her mouth and nodded to signal her silence. Gaara lifted his hand and she growled. "How the fuck did you find me?"

The red head's mouth curled into a menacing smile and he laughed quietly. "The sand called to me." He lifted a hand up and the sand came dancing - a cruel mockery of her. She gulped once, she knew pissing off Kages was a dangerous business but she'd thought Tadashi had this under control!

"You'll be caught. You'll go back to your cell and what will you have accomplished?"

"I'll have accomplished killing you. That's good enough for me right now." Gaara smiled bitterly and Keiko appeared in the doorway. Her ratty scarf was spattered with blood, barely visible if you weren't looking. Keiko herself was splattered with blood. Kooisi's mouth dropped open and Gaara smiled warmly at the medic.

Kooisi spluttered, "You betrayed-"

"Everyone, yes. Well I'm a traitor, it's what I do don't you know. Betrayal and trickery they come in a package or didn't Tadashi tell you?" Keiko spat the words out quickly. "Gaara will you kill her now? People could come." The girl fiddled with the ends of her sleeves, the blood dripping off them and slapping quietly against her rings and bracelets. She stuck her head back into the hallway and scanned it fast.

"Fine. I would have liked to draw this out," Gaara tried very hard to ignore how much like his younger self he sounded, "I'll make it fast." Gaarawrapped the sand around her head and her shoulders and with a flick of his wrist, snapped Kooisi's neck. The duo leaned their heads back into the hallway and checked it over.

"You're too damn noticeable." Keiko breathed chakra onto her hands then pushed them through Gaara's hair. He pulled down a spike and his eyes widened at the black coloring. "Don't freak. It won't last but it'll help hide you better. Red hair sticks out in a place like this." Gaara took the gourd and strapped it to his back, the sand immediately curling back into it and shifting happily.

"Now where?"

"Straight for two corridors, right on the third, left on the fourth." Both shinobi plotted this mentally then ran, They cleared hallway by hallway in a hurry.

"Duck!" Keiko yelped and Gaara dropped forwards, breaking his fall on his forearms, he looked up and then closed his eyes when Keiko's whip snapped through a person. When the man's top half fell forwards Gaara rolled right to avoid being landed on. He pushed to his feet and took a fleeting glance at the man's face recognizing him in seconds from the Bingo Book. He stole the katana in his hand and twirled it expertly before throwing it into an approaching man's neck. He jerked it out then flew around the left turn.

"Keiko?" He hissed as the medic joined him. She wiped the blood off the end of her whip and fast as lighting put more poison into the little metal cap. They let themselves rest for seconds, catching their breath and creating a mental map. Gaara scoffed at the irony of that statement. In the acadamy he stressed that maps were important, knowing where you were and where your allies were was vital to the survival of shinobi. He had absolutely no idea where he was or where his allies were. The only ally he was aware of was standing a foot away.

"Gaara. Listen to me." Both fugitives flew back into the darkness and hid. The voice was immediately recognized at Tadashi's. "Gaara, I know you can hear me. I have something to tell you about our mutual friend Keiko."

"More my friend then his." Gaara risked a quiet jab at the man. It was about an 95% chance that he was unheard but still it would be smarter to not risk it. He didn't quite care right now, if Tadashi found him then he'd kill Tadashi. Simple.

"She's a killer Gaara. I know you think she's innocent and in over her head. But you are looking at the woman who murdered the 5th Mizukage. She was his healer, his doctor and his sister. When he trusted her with his life, she killed him!" Gaara looked up, expecting to see a casual denial instead of a horrified expression.

Keiko couldn't believe it, she knew he'd do all sorts of things to get what he wanted but she never assumed he'd say that for the whole place to hear. She'd convinced _everyone _but him that she was an innocent. It was meant to be her protection in the case of the Great Nations finding them. She looked up to meet Gaara's eyes and what she saw made her sick. He looked torn. Torn between rage and betrayal.

"Tell me he's lieing to me." He growled from the dark corner he was in.

The medic tried to shoot out a lie or better yet the truth, but nothing came out. Gaara kept himself hidden and they both stopped breathing when a sentry walked by. The guard continued on his walk and neither released the breath they were holding until the guard had gotten a good distance away. Even then they breathed it slowly and quietly.

"I can explain." She managed to whisper the words to him. Gaara tensed every muscle in his body like a snake when the guard came back down the hall. When the man passed Gaara sprung like a cobra and snapped his neck. He dragged the body down a corridor and reappeared just as fast.

"You may want to start." He snarled. The medic flinched, she knew that the Kages didn't talk much but they were still all immediately bonded because of their shared responsibilities. Not many people can say they hold the lives of some thousands of people in their hands. So when you come across the rare Kage-killer, it never comes across well. Understandably she supposed.

"My brother was out for a walk, he'd asked me to come but I was busy with other patients. So he was alone. We thought he'd be safe so his ANBU squadron for protection wasn't focused. He was attacked by a group of rogues, they damn near ripped him apart. The ANBU realized what was happening and got him to the hospital. The troublesome thing about killing that many people in one go, one person always escapes. Always.

"The one who escaped happened to be a extremely advanced medic nin. Much like myself you see. The bastard found me in the hospital and gave me a bottle of water laced with a potion. It allowed him to link our systems and in effect, control me. So the fucker made me down a few sleeping pills. He put _me _to sleep but took control of my body. When the ANBU summoned me to treat my brother-"

"-They summoned an assassin in disguise."

"-he treated him, yes. But he slipped into his system sort of a end-all drug. It disintegrated his brain. My brother's life ended a week later. My brother's personality was destroyed in 3 days. I couldn't do anything." She scowled.

Gaara went through the story. It was believable, and if he was wrong in putting his trust in her then he killed her when they reached the outside. He ran one hand over the deep red locks on his head and looked at the red drops falling off his fingertips. He hid a flinch at the amount of blood on his hands. He hated killing, tried to avoid it ever since he gave it up when he was a kid. Every once in a while when the crimson liquid proved to be overpowering he could swear he'd hear the voice of the Raccoon demon in his head laughing at him.

But that's irrelevant. He could commit murder to protect his fellow Kages. If Keiko really did kill the Mizukage then she deserved the death penalty. It's just wrong place wrong time that he's the one dispensing it.

"I believe you. Now get me outta here." He rose from his position in the dark and Keiko murmured.

"3 rights, a straight then a left."

And they were back at it.


End file.
